99 Not Out! by Sujata Kelkar Shetty PhD., is a beautifully researched guide to a happy and healthy existence. The book shares several principles that govern the health of our mind, body and spirit in an easily understandable yet interesting manner. 99 Not Out! shares how the readers can strengthen their mind, body and spirit so that they live the best version of their lives. Sujata Kelkar Shetty also explains exactly how long-term stress harms the mind body and spirit and what we can do to heal from its onslaught and prevent it in the first place.
The book shares behavioural practices from western medicine and Ayurveda that can slow down the ageing process while preventing illness, making it a truly wholesome read.
These five tips on how you can heal from stress and prevent it in the first place:
Your mindset matters
Cultivate a growth mindset instead of a fixed mindset. A growth mindset is one where you believe that you can learn from your mistakes and grow to become a better version of yourself in any field that you choose to. Because a growth mindset keeps the focus on process rather than product and because the mindset means internalizing the belief that you can improve and get better there is little stress. A fixed mindset on the other hand, because it means believing that our capabilities are fixed and unchangeable can cause a great deal of stress whenever the person is tested in anyway because you believe that you can’t learn from your mistakes. A fixed mindset puts a lot of pressure on us. On the other hand if we cultivate a growth mindset we are empowered to make changes in our life whether at work, at play and in our health behaviours so that we do what is best for us without getting stressed about it.
Become self-compassionate
Self-compassion includes the following three abilities, first being as kind to oneself as we would to our best friend. The second is cultivating mindfulness so that we are aware of what is going in and around us. And the third is knowing that we are all part of a universal human condition and we all have our triumphs and our tragedies. Cultivating self-compassion allows us to have calmer state of mind in the face of life events. Thus helping to reduce a our day-to-day anxiety level as well.
Laugh more
Laughter decreases the level salivary cortisol, a physiological and measurable marker of stress experienced in our bodies. Stress also impacts the memory, and cause memory loss in many cases. Therefore, it has been proved that laughter improves one’s memory. And laughter increases the level of endorphins in our blood stream making us feel better about everything. Laughter is indeed the best medicine!
Cultivate altruism
Being altruistic or helping others without expecting anything in return helps us forget our troubles and reduces our stress. It strengthens our mental and physical health thereby shielding us from the debilitating effects of stress in our lives. When we help others and project kindness towards them, it heightens our engagement with other people and makes us more social which is stress relieving too.
Be more positive
Cultivating positive emotions like joy and kindness helps us handle stressful life events better. When our mood lifts we no longer have a tunnel vision, our perspective broadens and we are able to see that there are choices in our life, we are not as disempowered as we think we are. We brood less on what is wrong and become more focused on what is possible.
Get your copy of 99 Not Out – Your Guide to a long and healthy life!
